WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5A
Snapped like matchsticks
ct set
91.75
ember
92.50
Ric Feld/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Shipping containers intermingle with destroyed homes along the Hurricane Katrina ravaged beach in Gulfport, Miss., yesterday. Destruction remains three weeks after the hurricane struck.
Break-ins
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Ally Porter, Highlands Ranch, Colo., sophomore, said she and other tenants were going to write a letter to their landlord requesting cameras or additional lighting in the apartment complex's parking lot.
Along with three other vehicles, her Toyota 4-runner was spray-painted early Sundav morning.
James Dunn, a landlord and president of the Oread Neighborhood Association, said landlords would be responsible for lighting in parking lots.
If students needed additional lighting or other improvements in the Oread neighborhood, they should become involved in association meetings, he said.
Dunn also said he thought that the Oread neighborhood, which is a low-to-moderate-income neighborhood, is
entitled to a nearly $1 million grant. The association will apply for the grant by Dec. 1, and could receive it by October 2006. The grant would be used to fund neighborhood improvement projects and services that benefit the poor. he said.
Landlords are also looking for ways to combat the crime.
Students should provide suggestions at meetings before Dec. 1, he said.
Debi Hartley, who rents her house to Newman's boyfriend, said she would add another motion detector light after the burglaries because the lot was insufficiently lit.
In the meantime, Newman will have to risk her car being burglarized or damaged in the alley when she visits her boyfriend.
"I saw a guy the next morning whose car got spray-painted. He said 'it's time to move.'" Newman said.
BOARD OF REGENTS
Meningitis shots required
BY JOHN HANNA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA - More college students will be required to obtain meningitis vaccinations or sign a waiver saying they refuse under a new policy adopted by the state Board of Regents.
— Edited by Kellis Robinett
The policy will apply to all incoming students who will live in dormitories or other housing operated by the six state universities, starting in the fall of 2006. About 14,000 students live in such housing, or about 16 percent of those enrolled.
Ten months ago, the University of Kansas became the first college in the state to adopt such a policy Three others followed — Wichita State University, Emporia State University and Fort Hays State University.
Kansas State University and
The board's new policy, approved during a meeting last week, is a response to a recommendation in May from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all incoming college freshmen be vaccinated.
Pittsburg State University encourage students to get the vaccine but do not require it.
"Once the CDC issued a new meningitis recommendation, the board felt strongly that it should take a more aggressive approach to combating this potentially fatal diseases," said board President Reggie Robinson.
The National Meningitis Association lists 24 states, including Colorado, Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma, with laws outlining similar policies.
In August, an autopsy listed viral meningitis as the probable cause of death at University of Missouri
linebacker Aaron O'Neal, who colapsed during a prescaon worke
Last year, a Wichita State University student died at home from the disease. A University of Kansas student was in a coma for two weeks and had both feet and most of both hands amputated.
Bacterial meningitis, which inflames membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, affects about 3,000 Americans each year, according to the CDC. Between 100 and 125 cases are reported on college campuses each year.
The disease is transmitted by contact with saliva, such as through sneezing, coughing, kissing or sharing drinks.
Ten percent to 15 percent of people contracting the disease die. Others suffer brain damage or hearing loss, and the disease can lead to amputations.
SUPREME COURT
Democratic leader rejects Roberts as chief justice
BY DAVID ESPO HE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said yesterday he would oppose confirmation of Chief Justice-nominee John Roberts, questioning Roberts' commitment to civil rights and accusing the Bush administration of stonewalling requests for documents that might shed light on his views.
At the same time, Reid readily predicted Roberts will win Senate confirmation, coupling the forecast with a warning of sorts to President Bush as he considers candidates for a second vacancy on the Supreme Court.
"No one should think that just automatically they're all going to be easy like this one." he said.
Reid is one of four senators invited to a White House meeting with Bush on Wednesday to discuss the vacancy created by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's decision to retire.
The Nevada senator made his comments as Democrats began taking sides in advance of next week's confirmation vote. President Bush named Roberts, a 50-year-old appeals court judge and former lawyer in two Republican administrations, to succeed the late William H. Rehnquist.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced he will vote for confirmation, and Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., edged toward an endorsement, as well. Roberts also commands overwhelming if not unanimous support among the Senate's 55 Republicans.
"After reviewing Judge John Roberts' credentials and meeting with him privately, I have found that he meets my criteria for judges. And that is: only the brightest, most objective minds shall serve on the bench," said Baucus, who added the decision was not an easy one.
"I've not seen anything that would cause me to vote against," Roberts, said. Nelson, who is seeking re-election next year in Republican Nebraska and often crosses party lines to support Bush's legislative proposals.
Reid had successfully urged fellow Democrats to refrain from taking positions on the appointment until after the completion of last week's confirmation hearings and the regular Tuesday closed-door meeting of the rank-and-file.
"This is a very close question for me. But I must resolve my doubts in favor of the American people whose rights would be in jeopardy if John Roberts turned out to be the wrong person for the job," he said.
Referring to publicly released memos that date to Robert's tenure as a Reagan administration lawyer, Reid said they showed the young attorney "played a significant role in shaping and advancing the Republican agenda to roll back civil rights protections."
"No one suggests that John Roberts was motivated by bigotry or animosity toward minorities or women," Reid added. "But these memos lead one to question whether he truly appreciated the history of the civil rights struggle. He wrote about discrimination as an abstract concept, not as a flesh and blood reality for countless of his fellow citizens."
Reid also said Roberts followed a "disengenuous strategy" at the confirmation hearings of suggesting that the views in the memos were not his own.
STATE
Stitches, charges follow dance-off
WICHITA - One person required stitches and a mother and son were arrested after two drill teams brawled during an impromptu dance off, Wichita police said.
"This is a whole new arena" of crime, said Wichita police Lt. Jeff Easter.
The Dynamic Steppers, a Wichita drill team, were practicing routines Saturday night when members of another drill team, the White Tigers, showed up and challenged the others to a dance-off, police said.
During the altercation, a woman struck a 17-year-old Dynamic Steppers drummer in the face with a drumstick, Easter said. The teen, who had left the WhiteTigers to join the Dynamic Steppers, punched the 28-year-old woman in the face. He then tried to run over spectators with his vehicle, witnesses told police.
The boy's mother, a Dynamic Steppers coach, grabbed a box cutter and sliced the other woman's right arm, Easter said. The wound required eight stitches.
An estimated 50 people became involved in the altercation. The mother was booked on suspicion of aggravated battery for cutting the other woman, Easter said, and the son faced charges of simple assault and aggravated assault. More charges are possible, police said.
The Associated Press